


Armin Finds the Ocean

by Q_loves_you



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Armin Finds the Ocean, Character Death, Gen, most likely AU ending, vague references to manga spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 09:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2263740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Q_loves_you/pseuds/Q_loves_you
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The titans have been wiped out, there was basically victory, some people are better than they were, and some people are totally traumatized. But they go on. They explore. And then the title happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Armin Finds the Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> First snk fic! Yay! Please please comment I will love you forever.

The titans were gone. After a century and more of living as prey – livestock, humanity was free. Free to expand beyond the walls.

This freedom came at a heavy price, of course. For all the beauty in the world, there was always cruelty. The entire Survey Corps knew this. They had experienced it first-hand. Those who were left began venturing out into the world, expanding humanity’s reach every day. Exhausted soldiers became explorers, continuing their work after the battle had been won.

Squad Levi (often plus Hanji), as they still called themselves, was diminished greatly but continued to fulfill its duties. Levi himself seemed remarkably unchanged after their victory. The popular theory was that he was a heartless bastard. His squad, however, knew that the combination of victory and devastating losses had in fact affected their leader very deeply. The profound relief was evident in every extra moment of relaxation he allowed himself or his squad. They weren’t many, but the message in every one was clear. We won. We deserve this. There are no more enemies to fight. (Of course, that wasn’t really true. There were plenty of human conflicts to resolve, and the outside world had dangers other than titans. But these were passing things and very possible to overcome.) On the other hand, there was a weight to his movements now that hadn’t been there before, as if every dead soldier were dragging him down. But he was Levi, humanity’s strongest soldier, so he continued much as he always had, any change imperceptible to everyone but those who knew him best.

Hanji hadn’t let a little near-death experience stop them in their continual quest for knowledge, so Hanji and Levi took the lead on these expeditions with Moblit trailing after them, constantly reminding Hanji not to put themself in unnecessary danger.

Sasha and Connie were more subdued than they had been, but still the most cheerful two in the group. Their shenanigans were limited by Connie’s missing leg, but they still found ways to get into trouble often enough.

Reiner was a godsend. He was even stronger and more chivalrous than he had been before, as if he were trying to make up for every death since the destruction of Wall Maria. If he was grieving, and they knew he must be, he did it quietly.

Jean, oddly enough, had become something of a group mom. He would deny it furiously if asked, but when the others had nightmares, they usually came to him. As Marco had said, he knew what it was like to be weak.

Historia was quiet and sad. Ymir’s death had come as a devastating blow for everyone, but she especially had been destroyed by it. Still, she soldiered on with the rest of them, giving out small smiles and acts of kindness along the way, using her power for good.

Mikasa was much the same as she had ever been, but she had been messed up to begin with. Her unwavering loyalty to Eren and Armin had been extended to the rest of the squad, and the casualties they had sustained had taken their toll on her. But she was still Mikasa, quiet and watchful and strong.

Eren was more subdued now. He didn’t give long, passionate speeches or pick fights with Jean. His need for vengeance on titans had been mostly fulfilled, and he had his hands full taking care of Armin.

Armin hadn’t spoken for four months. Nobody was quite sure what had been the final straw that triggered this muteness. Too many things had happened all at once. Whether it had been Bertholtd’s death, Ymir’s death, Jean losing his arm right in front of him, or any of the thousands of deaths that had resulted from the final attack he had helped to plan, nobody knew for sure. Even Armin himself didn’t seem to know. He communicated in nods and occasional gestures, but however hard they tried, he wouldn’t speak a word.

So when they set out that morning, they were a broken, half-mad, but victorious group of wounded soldiers. Squad Levi was supposed to explore a forest several dozen miles from Wall Maria and see if it was habitable. They had yet to reach the end of it, and Levi was getting irritated. He didn’t flourish in forest environments.

“Four-eyes, take the lead,” he grumbled as he pulled yet another cobweb out of his hair. Hanji did so cheerfully, blabbering on about ecology or something. Armin was the only one really paying attention.

Eren watched Armin listening to Hanji. He remembered when Armin used to talk the same way about the outside world, how his face would light up, and his voice would rise in excitement, telling stories about the sea and the ice fields and the rivers of fire. There was a hint of that excitement on his face now as he soaked up every bit of information Hanji had to share. Then Connie nudged him. “Eren, what’s that weird smell?”

Eren sniffed. “I don’t know.” He frowned. “Hanji, what’s that weird smell?”

Hanji stopped talking. They all breathed deeply. There was a strange, tangy quality to the air under the general smell of forest. Hanji sped up.

“I don’t know! It smells familiar, but I just can’t place it.”

Levi scowled. “It smells like sweat and dead fish.”

“SALT!” Sasha cried suddenly. “It smells like salt!”

Armin gasped, the most noise they had heard from him in ages, and after a quick look at Eren, began running.

“Hey, Arlert! Where the fuck are you going?” Levi called. Armin didn’t respond, just kept running toward the smell.

Eren turned to Mikasa, face hopeful, eyes shining. Mikasa shrugged, but looked excited. They set off after Armin, and the rest of the group followed hastily. Eren and Mikasa caught up to their friend fairly quickly, and they ran together through the trees, faces flushed, hearts pumping furiously. Armin was gasping for breath, but there was a light in his eyes that Eren hadn’t seen in months – years really. The trees were thinning, and the ground beneath their feet was strangely textured. Eren vaguely registered Hanji complaining behind him about wanting to stop and examine the soil, but Levi pulled them along. There was a sound up ahead, a strange, irregular kind of roaring, crashing sound. The three of them stumbled to a halt at the tree line, staring.

They were standing at the edge of the forest. Directly in front of them was a stretch of what seemed to be sand, more sand than any of them had seen before. And beyond that was a vast, rolling body of water that stretched all the way past the horizon. Waves crashed on the shore, bigger than any waves they had seen in the lakes inside the walls. The smell of salt was stronger than ever.

“Armin,” Eren whispered reverently, “is this…”

Armin turned to Eren, smiling brighter than he had smiled in years. He nodded. “It’s the ocean.”

Eren heard the rest of the squad arriving behind them gasp. Eren laughed elatedly. “Armin!” He reached out and pulled Armin into a tight hug. Mikasa joined them, also laughing. Armin fell to his knees and they went down with him.

“Armin, it’s the ocean! We found the ocean!” Eren crowed delightedly.

“I know!” Armin coughed. His voice was still raspy from disuse, but he started laughing, half-hysterical. “It’s the ocean.”

The whole squad gathered around. They had heard Armin and Eren talk about the sea before, but it had always seemed like an impossible idea. And it had been so long ago, they had almost forgotten. Forgotten Armin’s voice. Forgotten his vision of the ocean. Now they stood listening to Armin’s laugh and watching waves crash on the shore.

“It’s so big,” Connie said finally, “I can’t even see the other side.”

“The other side could be thousands of miles away,” Armin said, “Huge parts of the world are covered in water.”

“No way, man. That’s ridiculous,” Connie argued.

“It’s true,” Eren disagreed, “Armin read it in his book about the outside world.”

“Who cares how big it is?” Sasha asked, sitting down abruptly and taking off her boots and gear, “Let’s go!”

The squad (sans Levi) followed her lead, stripping off shoes and socks and rolling up pants. Then they stepped out onto the sand. Connie fell down almost immediately, his prosthetic leg unable to adjust quickly enough to the strange, shifting terrain. He wasn’t the only one having difficulties either.

“How is there this much sand?” Jean complained, stumbling slightly as they walked to the water.

Hanji immediately launched into several theories, leaving Jean looking like he wished he hadn’t said anything. Armin, Eren, and Mikasa found their footing quickly enough and continued on to the water. They stopped at the shoreline and let the waves wash over their feet.

“Holy fuck, it’s cold!” Eren yelled. Armin laughed, and Mikasa smiled. Hanji, Sasha, Connie, Reiner, Jean, and Historia joined them. After a few moments, Armin waded in further until the water was up to his chest.

“Levi, come on!” Hanji called, “It’s refreshing!”

“No.”

“Really, Levi? We just found the ocean and you’re not even a little bit interested?” Hanji said disappointedly.

Levi grimaced. “Fine.” He carefully took off his boots and rolled up his pants. Hanji cheered, and Levi glared. Then he waded in up to his knees and stopped. “Cold and salty,” he said drily. “Amazing.”

“Hey, look at this!” Historia called from where she was standing submerged up to her waist. They splashed over to her. “Oh, you scared it away!”

“There are animals in here?” Levi said, sounding disgusted.

“Of course,” Armin said, “There are fish and crabs and something called whales. And thousands of other things. The ocean is full of animals.”

“What are whales?” Connie asked.

“They look sort of like giant fish,” Armin explained, “but they’re technically not.”

“How big is giant?”

Armin smiled. “The biggest ones are thirty meters long!”

“Wow!” Hanji exclaimed, looking out at the ocean with even more enthusiasm than before.

They continued to bombard Armin with questions about the ocean and its inhabitants. Armin did his best to answer. Eventually they were both distracted by the others starting a splash war, which ended rather abruptly when Connie lost his balance and fell, creating a massive splash that soaked Levi head to foot. Levi glared down at Connie, then turned his glare on each of them in turn. Hanji was covering their mouth with their hand to suppress their giggles. Mikasa merely looked slightly worried for Connie, who seemed to be frozen in fear. Then Hanji and Sasha simultaneously burst out laughing. Levi turned his back on them in disgust and left the water, grumbling about the sand sticking to his feet. Connie breathed a sigh of relief and stood up again.

“Don’t look so relieved yet, Connie!” Hanji told him with a mischievous grin, “He’s probably saving his revenge for later.” Connie gulped.

Eventually they all left the water. Armin and Eren were the last to leave, but they couldn’t stay there forever. They sat on some rocks near the water to dry off. While the others lounged in the sun and chatted amongst themselves, Armin found the closest rock to the ocean and sat on it, staring out across the waves. Eren sat next to him.

“It’s as beautiful as I thought it would be,” Armin said quietly. Eren nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Huh? For what?” Eren looked at him, utterly bemused.

“For not talking. I just couldn’t…the words wouldn’t – wouldn’t come and I tried, I swear, but – ow!”

Eren punched Armin’s right shoulder. Hard. “Idiot. Nobody’s angry about that. So stop apologizing for things that aren’t your fault. You’re ruining the moment.”

Armin smiled, then smirked. “Sorry.”

“Armin!”

Armin laughed. Eren couldn’t help joining in. They were practically in hysterics when Mikasa wandered over and sat down on Armin’s other side, smiling. They calmed down eventually, and just looked out at the ocean, occasionally pointing out birds or extra large waves. 

The sun was beginning to set, and they heard the others start talking behind them about setting up camp. They weren’t called on to help though. Somehow even Levi seemed to know not to disturb their moment. Slowly, as everyone finished their tasks for the day, Armin, Eren, and Mikasa were joined by the rest of the squad. Historia finished first, or rather gave in to Reiner’s insistence that he finish for her. She sat down next to Eren and tucked her knees up to her chest. Eren ran a hand through her hair absent-mindedly, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Jean joined them shortly afterward. He opted to stand behind Armin and Mikasa rather than sit on the cold, damp rocks. After a few minutes, Sasha sat down next to Mikasa, followed closely by Connie, who wrapped his arms and legs around Sasha from behind, breaking the silence for a moment with some awkward shuffling and giggles. Reiner came over and stood next to Jean, keeping a respectful distance, but staying close enough that Jean could close the gap if he wanted. Jean shuffled slightly nearer, but still stopped short of actual physical contact. Hanji and Levi were the last to join them. Hanji sat down next to Historia, and Levi stood behind them, angled so that he could see the majority of his squad without making it obvious that he was looking at them.

They sat and stood in silence for a long time, watching as the sun sank lower and lower over the water. Finally, Armin broke the silence. Eren didn’t think he would ever not love the sound of Armin’s voice.

“What do we do now?” he whispered. It was meant for Eren, but they all heard it.

“Keep exploring,” Hanji said matter-of-factly. “I want to see whales.”

“Build,” Historia said, “Expand humanity’s reach.”

“Report back,” Levi said at the same time.

“Whatever we want, I guess,” Sasha suggested.

“Live,” Mikasa said quietly. Eren nodded.

“Live.”


End file.
